.ng is the country-code Top Level Domain (cc-TLD) for Nigeria. In plain English, it is Nigeria’s domain name system that identifies websites related to Nigeria. It is currently available for registration only in the following variants, with most of them being restricted to Nigerian entities:
- com.ng – open domain, commercial entities and businesses
- org.ng – semi-open domain, non-commercial organizations
- gov.ng – governmental organizations
- edu.ng – degree awarding institutions
- net.ng – ISP infrastructure
- sch.ng – Secondary Schools
- name.ng – open domain
- mobi.ng – open domain, suitable for mobile devices
- mil.ng – closed domain (Nigerian Military Establishments only)
I threw this question open last week via Facebook, Twitter and Google Buzz: Would you use a .ng domain name for your website? Why? The responses were varied and interesting. Find a few of them below:
yes o! cause it makes it truly nigerian 🙂
No, won’t like to be associated with fraud.
The response above was “liked” by two Facebook users. Note that all 3 users are Nigerians.
I would use .ng, but I would not use .com.ng or .net.ng
Yeah, cause I be Omo Nija and I am Incredibly Proud
not until I can use it without .com or .org in front of it.
possibly though I’ll be afraid Nigeria’s bad reputation would affect the traffic at my site
lotsa creative sites can come with that domain, bi.ng. weddi.ng etc
I am unable to name the respondents nor link to their respective comments since I did not plan to re-publish their comments and thus did not advise them earlier.
It is interesting that those who would use a .ng domain would do so out of pride in their national identity whilst those against .ng would stay away out of fear for the poor reputation Nigeria has over the Internet.
Another angle are those who wish they could register .ng domains directly at the 2nd-level. Examples: lovi.ng, cari.ng etc.
It is time to open-up the debate and educate ourselves.
Either way, would YOU use a .ng domain name for YOUR website? If yes, why? If no, why not? Feel free to share your views in the comments area. If you are a blogger, feel to respond through your own blog post. Notify me and I would link to your blog post. Comments that attack Nigeria or Nigerians unnecessarily and/or do not focus on the issue would be deleted.
Actually if I do know how to registering a .ng domain name I would – mainly because my market is the Nigerian market.
I think it really a business decision really – determining which would place you in a better position for more business.
If I had a website that was not basically a business site but like a blog or an information site that would be viewed all over the world – then yeah a dot ng would be great right?
If you wanna sell to the whole world, you are going to be thinking if my domain is a .ng would i be able to convince buyers to put in their card details?
But where your business is focused on Nigeria, i think it would be good to have the .ng – yeah we still have to convince Nigerians to put their card details online to buy stuff so… I can imagine what a struggle it would be for outsiders/foreigners
I think in the long run, it would be a great idea to ‘invest’ in the .ng domain. I’m with a lot of people on having one without the .com.ng though, don’t like the look of it.
From an SEO pov, it’s definitely a good move for Nigerian businesses…
And how do you register these .ng domains ?
Visit http://www.web4africa.com.ng to register your .ng domain name.
Thank you for this great information. I will be launching a site with .ng in no distant time
[…] to soak the MainOne broadband with every part of his body. We had intense conversations about the .ng top-level domain name system, and internet entrepreneurship in Nigeria generally. AKPC_IDS += […]
I will use the ..ng for my website because it will make me to rank well in google for Nigeria searches